newyorkette

(Self-portrait, detail, by Carolita Johnson.)

So, last spring, someone, and she knows who she is, proposed to sell me as a portrait artist. I was all for it, but the only problem was I hadn’t ever done any portraits in the “serious” way. Meaning, in oils, rather than magic marker. So I thought I better get on the ball, and here’s my first oil portrait of a real person: me.

It’s not done yet, but I’d say it’s nearly done. I kind of like the unfinished quality of it, even if I’m not sure I could get away with that on someone else’s portrait. In any case, this is a first. It’s the first try, first day, and first time I ever got my mouth right. Other former art students will probably remember having to do their self-portraits for school applications—I’ll never forget mine for Parson’s, and all the subsequent attempts: all too long in the nose, with weird lips. Say what you will, but this is progress!

It’s not the way most people see me, mind you: no makeup, hair not coiffed, in my paintsuit. But that’s the real me, how I look when I won’t be seeing anyone.

Posted Saturday, June 9th, 2007 at 9:08 pm under in the wringer. Feel free to trackback from your own site. All images on newyorkette.com are the intellectual property of Carolita Johnson, and you must ask (and receive) express permission to use them or reproduce them in any way whatsoever.